Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company

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Was able to head over to the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery this past weekend as we where up for some hiking and to watch some of the Iron Man. Have been to the Pub and Brewery many times in the past as I have had friends who have lived in Lake Placid. In the past it has also been known as PJs, I believe. They have a nice deck area, but we decided t eat inside. Downstairs they have a nice bar area with an L shaped bar, dark and somewhat rustic in appearance. Upstairs it has that same rustic appearance but is much lighter in color as the walls look to be done up in pine. Fair amount of tables and a U shaped bar, also a fireplace in one of the walls. All I can say is that the service, food and the beer were all great. They had 6 beers on tap, they where UBU, FrostBite, 46er, Moose Island, High Peaks Hefeweizen and a Wit. All that I had where very good, the Hefeweizen and FrostBite were exceptional. As I said the food was great, we had wings, jambalaya and a burger while there, we were a bit hungry after Cascade and Porter Mountains! If youre in the area this place should be a definite stop if you have the time. Also can get growlers to go, but think they will only use their own.

In the quaint village of Lake Placid, nestled high in New York’s mighty Adirondack Mountains, are two fine purveyors of craft brew; one is the Adirondack Brewing Company (see my review for the Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood Company), the other is this one.

Situated apart from the Main Street bustle of summer tourists and winter ski bums, Lake Placid Brewing is housed in an appropriately rustic two-story structure, with the brewpub being upstairs. The room is pleasant enough – though, it does evoke a fratboy-cum-sportsbar atmosphere (what with the numerous college pennants decorating the walls.) In the middle is the bar, square-shaped with limited space to plant one’s ass. There is a smattering of high tops and tables scattered arbitrarily about the place – with plenty of room for the ever rushing servers. LPCB offers conviviality to local and tourist alike.

Of course, we were here for the beer and there was a decent selection of the house brew here including several IPAs; however the primary beer was the UBU Ale, a smooth and delicate English Strong Ale that comes off more like a Scotch Ale than anything else – perhaps, it is a British Strong Ale? After several pleasant pints, my friend and I, the former having brought me here in conjunction with a business trip to nearby Saranac Lake, grabbed a growler of UBU and made our way down the mountain to home.

While not much of a skier, or a tourist addicted to quaint, but crowded, mountain villages, I can see myself returning here. After all, Lake Placid is the home of two Winter Olympic Games, the most recent being in 1980 when our hockey team defeated the USSR. Now, Lake Placid is home to UBU Ale. Do you believe in miracles?

For the 2nd year in a row we rented a house in LP, and for the 2nd year in a row, this was our hangout when we decided to head out on the town.

As other reviewers state, there in nothing exceptional about the atmosphere, though it is indeed cozy, and does include the requisite adirondack chairs out in front of the place. At least when the weather is nice, I see no reason why one would not want to sit outside on their decent size deck that includes a great view of Mirror lake. A great way to kill a few hours on a sunny afternoon.

We have always had good service via the waitstaff, who have been prompt, knowledgeable, and good humored in dealing with our lame jokes and boisterousness.

All the beers are fresh and well above average. This time around, the heffeweizen was the beer of the day, esp. nice after golfing. It is the most cloudy heffe I have ever seen, but also unusually complex for the style. Albiet
it may not be complexity that one looks for in a heffe, but it should not be missed. The Frostbite Ale (recently renamed according to our waitress, I forget to what) is also a very good IPA, and my fave in their lineup.

The food is always enjoyable, and they have some of the best wings around. Check out the fire fish, it is fish and chips smothered in buffalo sauce. How can you lose?

All in all, a great brewpub that provides a nice balance between "touristy" and local joint. Check it out.

A brew pub in an old church...that speaks to me. The interior is almost like a small ski lodge.

The Irish Pub is downstairs, but the real action (and the fermenting vats) is upstairs. There's a deck which is nice to sit out on during a nice day and look over Mirror Lake.

There are always 6 brews on tap.
Four standards:
- Ubu (their famous world-class British strong brown which is served in many of the restaurants in Lake Placid)
- 46r Pale Ale
- Moose Island Ale
- Lake Placid IPA (made with Cascade hops)

And two seasonals (these were the two they had when I was there this time)
- Belgian-style Wit (not cloudy, very well-executed, a bit light on Belgian yeast tones)
- Maibock (nicely balanced, fruity and crisp...excellent!)

They sell 6-packs, half cases, full cases of the four standards and growlers of anything they have on tap.

The food is great. They incorporate their beers into much of their fare. Ubu can be found in the chili, as a braise for the ribs, the BBQ sauce, onion gravy and even in the toast used for the Welsh rarebit, which is made with the Moose Island Ale. Moose Island Ale is also used to steam the sausages for their Bangers & Mash.

You have to try Josh's Fire Fish. Fish and chips with the fried haddock dipped in hot Buffalo sauce. Try that with a Lake Placid IPA.

The place is always busy even during off-season, so the wait may be long and the staff may be harried, but they always serve with a smile and the bartender will talk beer with you when he manages to grab a chance.

Located about three blocks from the hockey arena, on the "other side" of Mirror Lake. Locals know it as "PJ's." Looks sort of like a cross between an Alpine lodge and a church from the outside. Limited parking in front, plenty of on-street parking in the area although finding a spot can be difficult during peak season.

Two levels - the downstairs is very rustic and dark, with an L shaped bar. The TV was tuned to the Weather Channel ("Look! It's 75 below on Mt. Washington!"), which I got a kick out of. The upstairs is very Adirondack Lodge - like, with wooden walls and plenty of tables around a U-shaped bar. Both areas have a warm, welcoming vibe, which was very much appreciated since the high temp that day was -3 degF. Six beers on tap, and the servers are very knowledgable about them. Bar service both upstairs and downstairs was fast and friendly. The centerpiece is the outstanding Ubu ale, a 7% garnet colored session beer of the first order. Scary drinkable. They also make an American IPA that will please hopheads, and the seasonal Frostbite Pale Ale was getting a few nods of approval from those I talked to. They only fill their growlers, and rather than fills do an exchange - hand them the empty, get another out of the ice cold case by the door, and pay your $6. Aside - $6 for a growler of Ubu Ale has got to be one of the best deals on the planet.

I did not have a chance to try the food this time, but my sister in law says that the food is generally very good. The portions looked pretty good from what I could see.

Cheers: You can make 2 nights out of 1 trip; get wasted up, fall down the stairs, continue at the lower bar. The outdoor patio is the place to get some crisp ADK air while sucking down some cold ADK suds. Beautiful lake and mountain backrop. Chalet feel made me feel like I was in the Alps. All you can eat popcorn. The lower bar is for locals, the top for tourists. Go to the lower (but be careful), unless your life revolves @ your manicured lawn that you pay someone to do and you own 2 4-wheel drive SUV's and live on Merryweather lane. UBU ale is dangerous, along with the seasonal IPA, Frostbite. 46'er is kindof weak in comparison, but a true to style west coast APA. Far enough away from the strip. Way better than their overpriced competition.

Jeers: Again, another place that won't fill other breweries growlers. Perhaps the name Lake Placid Grolwer Emporium is more fitting? When I'm looking at the taps, don't keep telling me to look at the list, otherwise "you won't have any idea as to what is what." I heard you the first time, no need to repeat yourself. Perhaps I like to look at taps. Beware of the popcorn at the downstairs bar: stale and most likely crawling with pathogenic microbes that would love to ruin your day. The downstairs bar primarily serves as a meeting place for the locals to make fun of the out of towners. They need to find a new hobby. The UBU dog was staring at me when I was trying to take a dump. Lodge atmosphere could be bumped up a notch by having Frauleins serve the beer. 2 locals were spotted drinking Bud. One local swilling down a macro made fun of a patron who ordered the sampler. Drink a real beer, freak.

The Lake Placid Brewery and Pub is a great place to grab a drink after hiking around the Adirondacks. It has a real laid back atmosphere. It has an average bar feel to when you come in and the servers are nice. I sampled several of their beers and I was impressed. I like all styles of beer for the most part but of course I have preferences but I give everything a shot when trying somewhere new. I am not a big IPA or Stout guy. I mean sure I like to drink them occasionally but they are not my normal beers of choice. I have to say that I really enjoyed the 46er I.P.A. and their Stout too. I liked the Ubu Ale so much I took a growler of it home with me to share with friends. I like Lake Placid but a lot of the establishments are full of stuck up people this is not one of them. I look forward to going back and sampling more of their seasonal beers.

Nice interior of two floors with bars on both. Upstairs has lot's of seating with tables and a nice patio. Really friendly and helpful waitstaff that knew what they were talking about in terms of both beers and food. Beer available to take away downstairs also. Never had to wait long for anything and all members of their team were ready to look out for us even though we weren't their table.

Lot's of penants from Universities around making the atmosphere more interesting, even more so considering that I was able to spot some Canadian ones. Portions were huge almost to the point of being scary which may just be an American thing. Nevertheless the brews were decent and the food was tasty.

Took a detour off the Northway to Lake Placid to check out this place.

First .... it's a great little town, with a lot to see and do.

It's right in the village on the lake and walking distance to all the shopping.

All the beers were excellent. I was a little disappointed with the Hefeweizen though .... it was overly cloudly; almost muddy in appearance. Their other seasonal, an Amber, was quite good. I'm surprised it's a summer seasonal and not a regular offering.

The menu was nice .. I went with a burger (typical of me, and a great way to judge a kitchen). I wasn't disappointed at all.

Above I mention the Amber .... I'm mentioning it again relative to the service. The bar menu did not indicate if it was an Ale or a Lager, so I asked the cute girl bartending. I wasn't surprised when she didn't know .... and she didn't go ask someone else to find out for me.

I guess this is a gripe with me, not just here, but most places. The management finds it more important to put a pretty face behind the bar rather than a representative of the establishment. Don't get me wrong, I like a pretty face .... but train them in the products they are selling. Afterall, they are not there to just fill pint glasses and serve plates.

I wish Lake Placid wasn't so far out of the way. It makes this a bit time-consuming to get to, and I would ultimately like to return here again sometime. It may require an overnight stay as opposed to a quick detour off the northway though.

Final Note. With regards to their website, it has not been updated in quite some time. Their Plattsburgh brewery is not open to the public, and has not been for quite some time. I found this out the hard way after driving there enroute to Lake Placid.

This place is fantastic. I visit lake placid quite often and I always make sure to stop in here for a pint. All their beers are good, but the Ubu and Stout are really good. The selection is good and changes quite often. They have a downstairs bar with pool and dartboards and this is where more of the locals flock to. The upstairs has a nice bar and limited space for dining, except in the summer when they open up the outdoor patio. They have growlers and great logo pint glasses for sale. They also bottle their beer and seem to be selling it far and wide. Lake Plaicd is a great down with some great beer.

Big open, bright, high cieling dining area surrounding the rusic light wood bar. This looks and feels like a brewpub with the bar being the center of it all. We opted not to sit on the deck, but that looked like a good spot to hang out and have dinner too.
We were looking for pub grub , and that's about all that is available here....and it was good. Excellent burger... grass fed beef , maybe ? Fries also very good.
Tried their famous Ubu...pretty good...not my favorite style of beer, but when in Rome....
Their Hefe was really good. My girlfriend had two pints of that. They use the Weienstephan yeast , and it tastes like a real German hefe.
Thier IPA was also very good, as was the 46'er Pale. We grabbed a couple of Pales from the bar downstairs when we were done and sat outdoors with a view of Mirror Lake. A good place to hang out...red Adirondak chairs.
Good beers, good food, good atmosphere.